No seriously..... is this the right choice???

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 I look at college as if it were an investment taken to try to build a foundation of learning that will be used in the “world of work”. When you look at it this way, you may tend to think twice and ask yourself “why is this the right choice for me?” There are people out there with all types of degrees and prefixes to their names and still find it hard to find a job. Whilst you have others that go straight from high school and find a well-paying job because of someone they know. Is this fair?

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Louis Menand states that,  "College is, essentially, a four-year intelligence test. Students have to demonstrate intellectual ability over time and across a range of subjects. If they’re sloppy or inflexible or obnoxious—no matter how smart they might be in the I.Q. sense—those negatives will get picked up in their grades.”

Of course from that, I'm sure we can come to an agreement that college is here to help build the skills and aptitudes of students that would be hard to obtain without it. While in college you are not just developing your academics, but you are learning how to socialize with others, which is a big part of being a citizen anywhere.

Likewise, I personally think that being able to communicate efficiently and clearly is definitely needed in our time. With so many expansions in technology, if you lack these skills you may find it very difficult to interact with others and express what you want.

What is college good for then?

When we look into this, you will find there are many good reasons to attend a college or university. In these years, students will meet many people and develop not only as a person, but as a citizen. Bobby Fong states in one of his articles that, 

"The goal of a classical liberal arts education was to prepare students to live in a community as a suitably prepared responsible citizen. In our time, you will need to be citizens not only of a local community, state, or nation, but also citizens of the world.”

If you agree with this statement, then we can conclude that college does not only focus on academic success. It is focusing on the overall success of being a good citizen. While in college, it’s not just about what you are learning in the classroom anymore, you get to interact with peers at social events, especially if you are living on campus. There are multiple meets and activities around campus and if the student chooses to get involved, they will grow socially.

In addition, there are many other reasons why college can be a good investment. An advantage one could have over another is the fact that you will be offered more opportunities in college if you look for them. No matter the size of the campus there are many faculty and staff that can help students along the way. If a student was seeking leads for a job, they could utilize a faculty member for the information and even get recommendations from them. There are also career colleges that one can attend to further these opportunities by placing themselves in a school already focusing on their career track. 

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Nevertheless, to every good there is a bad when it comes to looking into a college degree. It is really expensive to pay for college, and many think it is just a complete waste of time to attend .Debt is a big problem in our country and a big portion of it is caused by loans to attend these institutions.

The NPR Staff’s article “College Student Debt Grows. Is It Worth It?” really gives vivid detail about how bad debt can get for graduates.

An example Kantrowitz says is that if you're going to borrow $10,000 a year for four years, you should hope that the field you've chosen has a starting salary of at least $40,000. If you are going to be borrowing more than that, he suggests looking for a less expensive school.

That might make some people wince — especially those who focused on liberal arts in college. Kantrowitz says it's not that those majors are worthless, but that students have to face the reality of how they're going to pay back the money they've borrowed for their education.

Many students coming into college have no clue to what degree program they want to follow. For example, let’s say we have someone who grew up wanting to be a lawyer and enters a university. He registers for his classes and while he takes them, he finds out that this is something he can’t stand to do. Not only that but let’s say he doesn’t discover this until two years into his degree track. He just wasted all that time and money and might have to start completely over when he switches majors. If something like the above may happen, a student may become emotionally distressed, depressed, and may even turn to suicide. 

“Suicide is the dark side of the student lending crisis and, despite all the media attention to the issue of student loans, it's been severely under-reported.”

Says, Johannsen

Are the risks worth it? Am I strong enough to hold it together and graduated, regardless of what may come my way? These are questions that a ton of students may have asked themselves before clicking the submit button on their application to a university. If I risk getting into deep debt from this education, is it truly worth it? Some might answer that question with a “yes”.

Many people come to college because they feel it is their calling to do something in this world. Take an artist for example. They may not worry about paying off their loans as much because they will enjoy what they are doing in life. Even though they may not make as much money as a doctor or pay off their debt in a timely matter, the fact that they are doing what they love is all too fulfilling and they can’t imagine themselves doing something else. I can relate to this because I am a music major and music majors definitely don’t make good money on even a master’s degree, but if I wake up in the morning and enjoy what I do, how can I complain. 

Even though there may be negatives to going to college, I still think it is a good choice. It is here to help develop skills that might not have been obtained through going straight into the work force. Students have a chance to become more sociable and interact with people of different backgrounds, culture, ethics, etc. that can mold them into responsible citizens. Not only will they interact, but they can truly find who they are in college from the exposer they will experience. Don’t get me wrong, college is not for everyone. It takes a strong individual to handle the responsible and stress that comes with the job. Just remember that college is more than just academics; it is what makes the next generation better than the last. If one works hard and utilizes all the resources in front of them, they can achieve many things.

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